Tumugon si House Ways and Means Committee Chair Joey Salceda sa ilang tanong na nakapaloob sa discussion paper ng UP School of Economics (UPSE) tungkol sa Maharlika Investment Fund.
Isa rito ay ang umano’y ‘confused goals’ para sa MIF.
Hindi anila kasi malinaw kung ito ba ay isang development o sovereign wealth fund.
Ayon sa economist-solon, malinaw na ang objective ng MIF ay bilang isang development fund.
Kung mayroon man aniya itong aspeto ng pagiging investment fund ito ay dahil sa kailangan na matiyak ang pagiging sustainable o pangmatagalan nito para maipatupad ang socio-economic programs.
“Section 13 of the bill clearly says that the ‘The objective of MIF is to promote socio-economic development…Of course, at the core, the MIF is developmental. The President has repeated this, and this is the main direction of the Fund. But it has to make money to be sustainable… if it takes on the characteristics of an investment fund in some respects, it does so only because it necessarily has to be involved in the financial markets. The bill makes clear that investments in financial instruments are means to an end, not an end in their own. The true goal is socioeconomic development,” paliwanag ng mambabatas.
Dahil dito umaasa si Salceda na maisasama ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sa kaniyang SONA ang mga prayoridad ng MIF.
Mahalaga aniya na mailatag ni PBBM ang priority investment ng MIF upang magkaroon ng mas kongkretong polisiya kung saan gugugulin ang kita nito.
Gayundin ay magiging malinaw sa economic managers ang direksyon na kanilang tatahakin.
Magandang pagkakataon din ito upang mailahad sa diplomatic corps kung ano ang mithiin ng Presidente para sa MIF lalo at maraming bansa na ang nagpahayag ng interes dito.
“The inclusion of MIF priorities in the SONA will provide concrete policy direction for the Fund. The managers will know which way the ship should sail. It’s also an opportunity to concretize what the President envisions for the Fund. The whole diplomatic corps will be watching the SONA. And, as I can attest to when we were doing discussions on the bill, several countries and their partner banks are interested in this Fund. The President’s words on Maharlika will matter,” saad ni Salceda. | ulat ni Kathleen Jean Forbes
